Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to promote incentivised learning to improve the prospects of young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

In the current academic year, the government is allocating over £500 million of funding for institutions to provide extra support for disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds. This is to enable colleges, schools and other providers to support, attract and retain disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds and to support students with special educational needs and disabilities.

In addition, a number of financial support programmes are available for economically disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds. These help with the education related costs associated with staying in post-16 education such as travel and course equipment; these programmes aim to enable 16 to 19 year olds to participate whatever their financial situation.